


Oh Island In The Sun

by Mortissimo



Category: The Tribe (TV 1999)
Genre: Desert Island, M/M, Pre-Canon, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-08
Updated: 2006-11-08
Packaged: 2017-10-11 23:04:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mortissimo/pseuds/Mortissimo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Techno commanders' helicopter crashes on a deserted island.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh Island In The Sun

  
The island was tiny. Mega had walked around its perimeter earlier that day, and it had been less than an hour until he found he'd come full circle, back to the pathetic little lonely lean-to Jay was working on building against a boulder. Even on the very furthest spit of land, no more than a barely-submerged sandbar stretching out into the ocean, he could still hear Ram in the distance. Screeching loudly enough to put the seagulls to shame.

A part of him still couldn't believe that, of all things, they'd been taken down by a bow. At Ram's behest, and against Mega's better judgement, they'd brought the command chopper in low over the small, inhabited island, Mega and Jay holding fast to the wheels of Ram's chair as he leaned out to jeer at the technologically inept inhabitants. Then they had started throwing things, spears and rocks mostly. Ram had laughed at this, not too concerned. And to tell the truth, Mega had enjoyed it a little bit, buzzing past the natives in their chariot.  
Then they'd broken out the crossbows, and Mega had found out just how powerful a crossbow bolt could be. One had taken out the windscreen and lodged in the pilot's shoulder, apparently much closer to something vital than any of them could have suspected. Another got Ved in the thigh, and another in Jay's arm. To be perfectly honest, that was when Mega first began shouting for the pilot to pull up. Not when he saw his commander injured. Not even when he heard the first solid 'crunch' of a crossbolt slicing through metal like butter. He felt the first edge of panick when he saw Jay fall to his knees, gripping his arm and grimacing.  
The helicopter had struggled on a good hour from the island until Mega smelled the sharp tang of fuel, and they began to lose altitude. He later figured that one of the bolts must have cut open the fuel tank, that they must have been losing it into the ocean for at least the past ten miles. The pilot, too, was beginning to look pale and drawn, his eyes already half-closed as if in preparation. The water was rushing up to greet them faster with each passing second. For a long moment, just before they hit, Mega felt as though the chopper was suspended in time, that they might just hang like that forever. Jay, already having unbuckled Ram from his chair, lifting their commander to the tune of shrill protests. Ved clutching his leg, looking whitefaced and nauseous. The pilot, slumped over the controls. Mega couldn't recall his name.  
Then they hit the water, and everything got a whole lot quicker. He and Ved had managed to escape the sinking chopper before it began to fill with water. Jay, with his squirming burden, took longer, an eternal moment in which Mega's heart stopped and his breath stuck in his throat. Then the second blonde head broke the surface of the water and dragged the unconscious Ram into a lifeguarding hold that all of them had learned in school but apparently only Jay remembered. They swam to an island that only Jay had spotted as they were going down, both Ved and Mega trusting his judgement and quick thinking enough to entrust their lives to him. Jay was right, of course. There was an island. What he hadn't counted on was it being so miserable.

Standing ankle-deep in the icy water, Mega finally came back to himself, seeing the stormy sky and the blue-grey waves as if for the first time. It struck him then, like a sledgehammer, how completely and utterly screwed they were. The command chopper had veered off from the fleet to taunt the villagers. It could be weeks before they were found, even if somebody did care enough to send a search party. As he walked back towards the beach and collapsed bonelessly on the dry sand, Mega stared up into the dark clouds and wondered how it was going to feel to die, to starve until he withered away to nothing. There was nothing to eat on the island that any of them could find, and unless Jay decided to take his whispered suggestion considering the invalid of their party to heart, Mega accepted that they would likely be dead within the month, at the very outside. Assuming they could get fresh water. Assuming they didn't kill each other. Assuming they didn't die of cold. Assuming any number of things.  
Mega had always supposed that, after watching his family die and abandon him in turns, he would be ready when it was his time to go. But the cold gnawing in the pit of his belly spoke otherwise. Rolling over onto his side, he curled up into a ball, hardly stirring as a warm presence settled into the sand behind him.  
"Looks like rain," Jay remarked calmly. Mega made a noncommital sound of agreement. It did look like rain. "I've got a collector set up, and a sort of shelter." He paused, maybe reflecting as well on their dire situation. "Frankly, it sucks, but it'll have to do." There was another moment of silence, and Mega imagined the warmth at his back grew nearer. "Do you think we're going to die here?"  
"Yes," Mega answered before he considered the question. The word came out a croak, all wrong, sounding as though it belonged in somebody else's throat. He swallowed thickly.  
"We're not," said Jay resolutely, after a second's hesitation, or consideration. "We'll have a source of water. Some of these plants might be edible, and if not, we have firewood. There's always fish if none of the plants work."  
"We're going to die here," Mega intoned dully, staring at the sand. It wasn't unique for him, this feeling of desperation, of a lost cause, but it wasn't something he'd felt for a long time.He'd always thought he'd be safe with the Technos.  
Caught up in himself, he started when he felt skin sliding over his bare arms, felt Jay pull him up and back against Jay's chest. The heat here was almost unbearable, Mega thought, one hand drifting upwards to rest on Jay's, crossed over Mega's heart. There was warm breath at his ear, and he could feel Jay's pulse beating against his, gentle and slow and soothing.  
It must have started raining then, because Mega felt chill droplets slide down his cheeks.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by an answer from a Tribeworld interview:  
> TW: If you were stuck on a desert island with 3 other people what is the first thing that you would do?  
> Calen. - Cry


End file.
